Back in May, at the request of a City Hall worker who’s been staring at the carnage next door for far too long, we peaked into 500 South Ervay and discovered the old Butler Brothers furniture warehouse wasn’t just a 500,000-square foot mess, but also one tied up in litigation…
A Friend of Unfair Park asked this morning: “What’s going on over at Cityplace? Looks like they’re sinking a giant drill bit.” Funny he should ask: Moments ago we got word that today’s doings are related to the installation of three pieces of public art that begin at 7:30 this…
George Gimarc called the other day, said he’d just been rustling through stacks of paperwork left behind by Brent Stein — better known as Stoney Burns, father of Dallas’s underground press. Stein died in April, and in recent days those trusted to dispose of his estate have been offloading what…
Wow. I think Dallas Assistant City Manager Jill Jordan broke a major national story at today’s meeting of the Dallas City Council Trinity River Corridor Project committee. She told the committee that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — the quasi-military agency in charge of the nation’s flood control levees…
Tony Romo isn’t solely to blame for the Cowboys’ loss to the Lions, described alternately as “epic,” “historic” and just plain “embarrassing” (that’s from the team’s own website). The defense, stout in the first three quarters, surrendered 17 points to Detroit in the final period, including that three-on-one jump ball…
What you see above is the new plan to improve the Trinity River levees, which is markedly different than the one outlined on Page 46 of the April 2010 Dallas Floodway System briefing that showed the so-called cut-off wall sunk into the levees. Of course, back then it was guesstimated…
Feels like only two weeks ago we celebrated PARK(ing) Day Dallas, then spent an awful lot of time arguing about it … for some reason. Anyway. Several Friends of Unfair Park have pointed out the YouPlusDallas video made that day, which features Friend of Unfair Park and co-organizer Noah Jeppson…
To refresh: The local Coalition of Reason is the atheist/agnostic group that bought all those “Good Without God” bus ads in Forth Worth last year, causing quite the stir.Well, they’re back — this time in a slight kerfuffle with The Dallas Morning News’s Texas Faith blog.Zachary Moore, a coordinator for…
I last spoke with Jerry Haynes a few weeks ago. He wasn’t feeling well — he’d been diagnosed with Parkinson’s a while back and had moved to Longview — but said he was in good spirits. We didn’t talk long; he said he’d call back later, but never did. Now…
10. As of this morning, the Dallas Observer is out of the sports business, at least on a full-time basis. Though I’m not technically being fired (“laid off” is supposedly less damning), the paper and its owner, Village Voice Media, have decided to eliminate its full-time sportswriting position. It’s called downsizing. And yes,…
Ran into Chris Penn of Good Records yesterday, at which point he told me about the sign planted in the middle of Greenville Avenue yesterday by the city’s Public Works department — the one that says southbound Greenville between Bell and Alta will be closed from September 26 till November…
For those Friends of Unfair Park who don’t have Jewish mothers, I will tell you: They get stuff done. That would probably be their motto, if they ever organized themselves into some kind of union. (Possible sub-motto: “But, Really, Would It Kill You To Call More Often?”)This morning, in front…
Bud Buschardt has spent the last several years writing a book I’ve always wanted to read: a history of the Sump’n Else show, the Ron Chapman-hosted rock-and-roll dance party shot at NorthPark Center that aired on WFAA from September 1965 till January 1968 and featured performances from the likes of…
For Jubilee Park residents, it was a party atmosphere in the Flag Room outside council chambers Thursday afternoon, when the City Plan Commission denied Dallas Independent School District’s application to replat two tracts of land near the site of the former O.M. Roberts Elementary School near Fair Park. But this…
Even Rick Perry doesn’t hate science all the time. His uneasy relationship with evolution and global warming notwithstanding, the Man Beneath the Hair understands that sometimes all that brainy shit with the white coats and clipboards can actually benefit him. And that’s exactly what happened in his 2006 bid for…
We began the broadcast day by discussing Sylvan Thirty’s funding; we end it by looking back at last night’s town hall meeting concerning its layout and, more broadly, the future of street and development design in Dallas. And based on the build-up, it was shaping up to be a pretty…
No doubt you recall where you were at the exact moment Leon Lett cost the Dallas Cowboys a Thanksgiving Day victory over the Miami Dolphins in 1993. Me? I was icebound in Farmersville, cooped up with out-of-town family convinced it would be just fine to drive up to Collin County…
I dunno, last Sunday night’s finale to HBO’s Entourage was a little too tidy for me. Vince finally got the girl. Eric was back with Sloan. Ari was reconciling with Mrs. Ari. Drama’s show was a go and even Turtle was a trim, fit millionaire. What the what?! I guess I…
Longtime Friends of Unfair Park are by now well aware of my lifetime obsession with the Texas International Pop Festival, held during Labor Day weekend in 1969 in a Lewisville field. The roster, put together by, among others, Angus Wynne, was legendary: Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, B.B. King, Ten Years…
At the end of last week we spoke with council member Linda Koop about the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce’s involvement in doing something, anything with Valley View Center, some or most of which may not be standing by the time LBJ construction’s wrapped in five or so years. As…
Seems like only seven months ago, give or take, that we were told of developer Shawn Todd’s plans to restore the built-in-’30 U.S. Post Office and Courthouse at 400 N. Ervay, easily one of downtown’s brightest jewels. Said the announcement, which was hailed by politicians and preservationists, Todd would convert…
Among the 38 let go from the Dallas Morning News yesterday was Lee Hancock, who said her goodbyes on the DMNCuts website: “I am grateful for the fun it’s mostly been. I hope for better, happier days for all who remain.” It wasn’t so long ago that the newspaper ran…
